How I Built The Discipline to Lose 137lbs

The most misunderstood aspect of my weight loss journey is that it was five hours of daily exercise that resulted in my weight loss. It wasn’t. It was the calorie deficit I maintained for seven months.

But If a calorie deficit is all required for weight loss, why did I exercise like that? Surely, this is unnecessary for a calorie deficit.

It is.

So what was I doing with all the exercise then?

At the end of November 2021, I listened to ex-Navy Seal David Goggins’ book?Can’t Hurt Me. In it, Goggins talks about pushing yourself physically to build yourself mentally. It wasn’t just an approach I never considered, it was an approach I never wanted to consider. I had always tried to lose weight the easiest way I could, remaining in my comfort zone as much as possible. This time I had to try something different - why not this?

I started walking for 90 minutes a day. Two weeks later, I started weightlifting six days a week. One week later, I started the Couch to 5K app and stretching every single day and one week after that I started swimming three times a week. In five weeks, I had gone from zero minutes of exercise to five hours of exercise a day. After that, I just made every day more difficult. One extra rep, one extra length, one more kilometre. Whatever I could do to just improve every day.

These first five weeks were incredibly uncomfortable. In fact, to no surprise, my body struggled for the first three months. I exercised, cooked, ate and slept. The rest of the time, other than hobbling through the aisles at the supermarket or down the hall to my bed, I was laying on the sofa. Physically, I was in a lot of pain but, to my amazement, mentally I was on a different level from anything I had ever felt before.

Every morning, I would drag my aching body out of bed and head to the gym. There was no decision involved. I seldom thought about whether or not I felt like going. I just went. When I got home, I cooked and ate and walked my dog before preparing for my run or swim. And then I went again.

I don’t know how many people reading this will be shocked by that last paragraph but if you are obese, I am almost certain you will be. It is the polar opposite of what used to happen in my mind when I had to exercise or do anything that made me uncomfortable. I used to think of all the excuses I could so I didn’t have to go and then justify it in my head - “I don’t feel like it”; “It’s raining”; “I deserve a treat for being good this week”; or “I will just have a day off today and go back tomorrow” and on and on.

There were no longer any excuses. The tougher things got through injuries, the more determined I became to have no days off and push harder every day. Adhering to the diet became easy. It was child’s play compared to the daily physical challenges. David Goggins was right.

This was one of the more painful articles to publish. It’s very hard to write it and not feel like I’m blowing smoke up my own arse, but, the reason I wrote it is that I want people to understand that weight loss is simple but not easy. It’s simple because all you need is a calorie deficit and it’s difficult because, if you're obese, you need to maintain relentless consistency with the calorie deficit for months. Pushing myself physically every day built that mental resilience to stick to my diet. You can apply this principle to anything in your life that requires discipline. I guarantee you that you will suffer but you will succeed.